Chapter 14
Consciousness came slowly. As if Akefia had been cocooned in the frilly blankets of his favorite 18th century Parisian whore house and a warm sweet breeze lulled his senses into compliancy. His lips quirked up at the memory. There he had tasted some of the best poisoned blood in his long existence.
Too bad he’d had to destroy the place on the pharaoh’s orders. Couldn’t have vampires going in to have a good time only to end up dead, after all. Even if it meant sending a general to spy on the place. The apple pollen incense had nearly been Akefia’s undoing.
The slight smile quickly faded at the thought. He tensed at the realization. He shouldn’t be this senseless. Something had happened. What though?
Akefia threw his mind back, trying to remember what he had been doing before the darkness took him.
He’d been at Layal. Someone had done an absolutely horrid job of inventory. The feed had been intermixed with buttercups and bracken ferns. Whomever was behind it attempting to poison Akefia’s horses and shut down the ranch.
Akefia remembered sorting through the bags of feed. The scent of buttercups and ferns well hidden. Too well for Hadi or the other farm hands to scent the poison for what it was. Then a voice behind him, and darkness.
The frown grew. He’d been so invested in scenting out what had been poisoned and what had been not he’d completely missed the scent of the new arrival. That still didn’t explain why Akefia felt like he was floating.
He huffed, and breathed in deeply. The cold snap of winter and mint invaded his nose. Wait a moment, he knew that scent. It belonged to–
Akefia opened his eyes to a ceiling that was not his own. He frowned at the popcorn ceiling, taking in the faint spider webs and dust that clung to the pebbled surface. Clinically, grey-purple eyes moved from the ceiling to take in the rest of the room.
He appeared to be in a bedroom. Another breath and Akefia realized he was surrounded by Ryou’s scent. He was in Ryou’s bedroom.
Akefia sat up. His eyes swept across the room intently now.
Directly across from the bed a low slab of wood with geometric metal spindles made a bench. Atop the bench sat a pile of clothing, and a tote of medical supplies. On the wall a large square painting of swirling greys on white with gold accents sat proudly.
The painting, abstract as it was, set the tone for the rest of the room. Light grey furniture and shelves against white walls. A darker mix of grey and gold accent pieces were scattered throughout to room. Black and white photos of scenery on shelves and a desk Akefia was just now noticing.
The monotone color palette worked. It managed to bring the photos and little knickknacks that Ryou had obviously gotten from all over the world together into a cohesive unit.
One photo in particular caught Akefia’s eye.
Gingerly, Akefia got out of the wondrously soft bed. A groan left him as aches he hadn’t been aware of bloomed across his body. Shit, that had been a lot of bags that had fallen on top of him.
With a stretch of his arms Akefia padded silently over to the shelf containing the photo in question. A second look showed there to be a collection of them. All showing the same people. Even if age and scenery changed.
Ryou, the boy that looked like Atem’s lost mate, and Isis’s little brother stood together.
Akefia frowned, blinked, and looked again. Yup, that was Isis’s little brother standing next to Ryou and the pharaoh’s mate. Reincarnation seemed to be a heavy theme the god’s were currently interested in. It was little wonder with Malik’s reincarnation running around that it had taken so long for Akefia to hear about Ryou’s existence.
Not that it mattered now. It was only a matter of time before Ryou and Bakura were Akefia’s.
It wasn’t the Hikari that had gotten Akefia’s attention however. No, it was the three other individuals in this collection of photos that gave Akefia pause. Two of them looked like older siblings to Ryou and the pharaoh’s mate. What had Ryou called him – Yugi? Yes, that had to be right, Yugi.
The older males held themselves regally in every photo. Hidden strength belied their lithe forms. Akefia could pick up the fondness and protectiveness for the four others in the photos through the shadowed look of these men’s eyes.
Who were they? Family would make things more difficult for Atem and Akefia. Yet, that is all Akefia could think of them to be.
As for the girl. She looked nothing like the others in the photos. Dark eyed and dark haired with pale skin. She grinned up at the camera with the Hikari from a nest of blankets and pillows.
One of Ryou’s cousins? A niece? It would make sense if the man that looked so much like Ryou was in fact an older sibling.
“It’s rude to go looking through private memories without permission.”
Akefia didn’t startle at the smooth drawl. He’d scented the human before the door had even opened. That being said, he still looked over his shoulder at the one who’d spoken. It was Isis’s little brother.
Akefia turned fully to face the young man.
“Last I checked, when one wakes up in another’s bed that gives them blanket permission to snoop.” Akefia said teasingly.
He and Malik had been good friends once. He hoped that he could wake those feelings up within the young man before him. No need to anger someone so close to his future mate after all. It could make things…difficult.
Isis’s little brother scoffed. He narrowed his eyes at Akefia as if reading his thoughts. A clay colored finger pointed menacingly toward the pureblood.
“I told Ryou that he should bed you, then drop you to the curb. Don’t think waking up in his bed is anything important. Last I heard you’re the reason Ryou thought genocide was a good idea.” Malik’s reincarnation said tersely.
Akefia took in those words with a blink. A smirk crossed his face.
“I annoyed him that much, did I?” Akefia asked.
Marik scowled. “Don’t think anything of it. Now get out. As much as I like Ryou in my bed there’s a reason we have separate rooms.”
This time Akefia had to stifle a mixture of amusement and possessiveness.
He’d annoyed Bakura enough to want to genocide the vampire race during their courtship. It didn’t surprise Akefia that he’d get the same reaction from Ryou. Especially when everything seemed to point toward Ryou being raised by Bakura.
That being said. Akefia did not condone the implications Malik’s reincarnation was insinuating. Ryou was his. This child could keep his filthy little fingers to himself.
Akefia went to say as much when Marik pulled a golden scepter out of the shadows. Akefia stilled at the sight. The Millennium Rod had been lost since the war 5000 years ago. Each of the seven items chose their wielder, but each wielder had to have shadow magic. That meant–
Malik’s reincarnation grinned, showing off all four of his fangs.
He wasn’t a vampire. Couldn’t be. A hybrid like Ryou, then. Just wonderful. How many more hybrids where there?
Akefia really needed his informants to do their Ra-damned jobs.
“I’m only going to say this one more time. Ryou is not yours, and you are going to leave. Now.”
Marik pointed the scepter at Akefia as he continued. “I don’t care that you can sense Bakura in the Millennium Ring. He and Ryou are my kith, and we are all memebers of the Heir’s court. Unless you want to start a blood feud you won’t be able to win you are going to back down.”
Someone had found and completed the Millennium Puzzle?
Thoughts stormed through Akefia’s head at the knowledge. There was only one person Ryou and Malik’s reincarnation spent a large amount of time with. That left only one option. Yugi was like Ryou and Malik’s reincarnation here.
Of fucking course.
Akefia needed to inform the pharaoh about this. The three missing Millennium Items had been found. They were in the hands of fledglings. Hybrid fledglings.
It took all of the control Akefia had learned over the millennium not to break down in hysterical laughter.
The gods and their games.
To give the pharaoh and Akefia what they wanted most. Only to keep them from truly being able to claim that which they sought. To possibly have them destroy what they asked for.
Akefia left Ryou’s apartment under Marik’s supervision. It was only as he stepped foot onto the street below that Akefia finally allowed himself to laugh.
Akefia had no idea how the fractured psyche of his best friend would handle this. The pharaoh would not be happy with this knowledge. Atem would be furious. There would be blood spilt. Akefia just didn’t know whose.